Night out money is not wages- subtract the HRMC allowance from the take home wage ( I say again in case you misheard Night out money is not part of your wages) and the wage is pitiful- even derisory given the responsibility drivers have- your wage is what you deserve- HMRC allowances are not part of your wage.- Too many companies see using the HMRC allowance as a top up to wages- It isnt, it is a right over and above paying drivers a decent rate- Night out money isnt and never should be a “top up” to make a decent living wage, that should be on the hourly rate.
splitshift wrote: you would care to share with TNUK your and the directors remuneration & perks bet there are no 10 year old Mondeos in the directors car park
There’s no directors carpark
They wouldn’t - I agree. If the drivers knew, the management would be lynched…
I also ask:
Is £6.20 an hour fair pay for a class 1
Driver?
And would you work for that rate
I did after we moved to Dover and while I worked there took home more than the figuresbeing banded about
Rikki-UK:
Night out money is not wages- subtract the HRMC allowance from the take home wage ( I say again in case you misheard Night out money is not part of your wages) and the wage is pitiful- even derisory given the responsibility drivers have- your wage is what you deserve- HMRC allowances are not part of your wage.
That’s right. So without night-out money the take home wage would be around £400, which is around the same as everybody else in the area pays, without night-out money.
Rikki-UK:
Night out money is not wages- subtract the HRMC allowance from the take home wage ( I say again in case you misheard Night out money is not part of your wages) and the wage is pitiful- even derisory given the responsibility drivers have- your wage is what you deserve- HMRC allowances are not part of your wage.- Too many companies see using the HMRC allowance as a top up to wages- It isnt, it is a right over and above paying drivers a decent rate- Night out money isnt and never should be a “top up” to make a decent living wage, that should be on the hourly rate.
I thought we were to stop the “knocking from all sides”? Just asking,
I think the grave has been dug. It just needs a bit of infill
Harry, you’ve changed man 
I know a few people who work for Dover companies and no matter how the wages are made up, they all earn pretty much the same.
pete-b:
Harry, you’ve changed man
You have to remember he speaks as an ‘O’ licence holder with a differing perspective now 
dar1976:
pete-b:
Harry, you’ve changed manYou have to remember he speaks as an ‘O’ licence holder with a differing perspective now
I don’t employ anybody though, except myself, and I don’t pay myself anywhere near as much as any other local company would pay me.
I do have an O Licence, but it’s a free country and anyone can get an O Licence, start a transport company, and pay their drivers £170 a day or however much they want. I don’t know why some of the people posting here don’t address the issue of low wages by doing just that. 
Going by the e-mail I have just read from someone in a company not a million miles away from CVT, who is astounded that they can get drivers at that rate when they are struggling to keep guys away from the big multi nationials and have lost drivers who will travel to Southampton to work away all week for a far higher rate
I wont name him… but his words which I have permission to reproduce is that they pay £7.50 per hour and overtime over eight hours and they think their rate is low and if times were better they would love to pay more. Makes the £6.20 even more pitiful
Harry. I put the emoticon on the end to infer my jovial approach to my statement.
It is in fact my next step to take the OCPC course and exam.
Hoping to get on December intake. But it may have to wait till march.
I see MC testing is now done on computer.
It will be a while before I can employ anyone but it is certainly food for thought.
Certainly won’t insult anyone by offering 6.20 / hr though.
Rikki-UK:
Going by the e-mail I have just read from someone in a company not a million miles away from CVT, who is astounded that they can get drivers at that rate when they are struggling to keep guys away from the big multi nationials and have lost drivers who will travel to Southampton to work away all week for a far higher rateI wont name him… but his words which I have permission to reproduce is that they pay £7.50 per hour and overtime over eight hours and they think their rate is low and if times were better they would love to pay more. Makes the £6.20 even more pitiful
hourly rate means jack [zb].
what you end up with in your arse pocket is what matters.
gross taxable pay of £250, but a net take home of £600 is a good wage slip.
I’m sure you can earn more money in Southampton, probably Felixstowe too.
Once upon a time you could earn good money in Liverpool. Then, in the 1960s, the shipping trade shifted across the country to Dover, and you could earn good money there while Liverpool went into decline. Now the same has happened again. Dover is in decline and wages are falling due to a combination of the rise of eastern European hauliers and the increase in containerisation.
I’ve never understood the posts I’ve read, for many many years, and long before I put my own truck on the road which have said “We should be on £20 an hour” and “We should be on £50,000 a year” because all they are actually saying is “We don’t understand how a free market economy works”.
One day I might employ people. I could now, but I couldn’t pay any more than anyone else does, so I avoid the flak by not doing so.
davepenn54:
This is totally ridiculous for Class 1 work, even in these ‘Ard Times’, my recent 7.5ton work (2.5yrs) was paying more. Feel sorry for the guys/gals who might have paid an arm & a leg to get their ticket and then find that this rate of pay is what they are rewarded with.jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/detailj … =DOV/31979
Regards
Dave Penn;
Ok well I’m totally ■■■■■■ off with the way this thread has been twisted and manipulated 
So for all of you who haven’t been arsed to read it from the beginning this is how it started. No mention of any particular employer, no slating of any driver’s, just a general statement that the rate of basic pay offered, £6.20 per hr is ridiculously low for Class 1 work and the rate paid is the same as what was generally accepted as the going rate for 7.5ton work 2.5 yrs ago.
It was never about how many hrs you can do and all the bonuses and the ‘we are all one big family’ BS It was about a basic rate of £6.20 being seen as acceptable for Class 1 general haulage work.
Regards
Dave Penn;
Harry Monk:
I know a few people who work for Dover companies and no matter how the wages are made up, they all earn pretty much the same.
Simple then, change how the ‘wages are made up’, so that a decent hourly rate is paid, then there’s less grief.
Ie, 40 hrs @ 6.20 / hr + time and half after 8, could easily be 8 / hr + time and half after 10 or however it works out, difference being when you’re on holiday, you’re not getting a pitiful 250 quid a week to try and live on 
Harry, as you’ve said, you COULD run another 2 trucks at those wages, but you won’t. You said because of the grief on here, but I doubt that, I think it’s more because you couldn’t bring yourself to expect a driver to drive 1 of your trucks to a satisfactory standard and look after it and not be a complete knob head for £6.20 per hour.
Now, if I worked for a firm, and they were paying minimum wage, I’d still be doing it to the best of my ability whilst looking around for something else, BUT I WOULD NOT be working for that firm in the 1st place, I think any driver that would is the sort of driver you’d not really want driving 80 grands worth of motor + goods around
Harry Monk:
One day I might employ people. I could now, but I couldn’t pay any more than anyone else does, so I avoid the flak by not doing so.
That statement suggests that you too do not understand the principles of a free market economy
limeyphil:
what you end up with in your arse pocket is what matters.
gross taxable pay of £250, but a net take home of £600 is a good wage slip.
thats a huge difference just how do you make that up? Less nights out of course - be interested to know how you would bump up the take home that high while avoiding paying taxes - care to enlighten us all? your chance to show your not all mouth… the stage is yours !- go for it Phil
waynedl:
Harry, as you’ve said, you COULD run another 2 trucks at those wages, but you won’t. You said because of the grief on here, but I doubt that, I think it’s more because you couldn’t bring yourself to expect a driver to drive 1 of your trucks to a satisfactory standard and look after it and not be a complete knob head for £6.20 per hour.
Well,I wouldn’t pay an hourly rate, I would pay a day rate simply because it would be far simpler to administer- I have better things to do at the weekend than add up various half and quarter hours but I would still only be able to pay the “going rate” however it was made up.
Really, a basically hourly rate is fairly irrelevant unless you are only planning to work for an hour. If you are planning to do a week’s work then what matters is what you make for the week’s work.
Harry Monk:
waynedl:
Harry, as you’ve said, you COULD run another 2 trucks at those wages, but you won’t. You said because of the grief on here, but I doubt that, I think it’s more because you couldn’t bring yourself to expect a driver to drive 1 of your trucks to a satisfactory standard and look after it and not be a complete knob head for £6.20 per hour.Well,I wouldn’t pay an hourly rate, I would pay a day rate simply because it would be far simpler to administer- I have better things to do at the weekend than add up various half and quarter hours but I would still only be able to pay the “going rate” however it was made up.
Really, a basically hourly rate is fairly irrelevant unless you are only planning to work for an hour. If you are planning to do a week’s work then what matters is what you make for the week’s work.
Right, so you’d pay, say £90 per day?
So, when someone’s on holiday, they get £90 per day…
See where I’m coming from. £90 per day is fair, £6.20 per hour isn’t
newmercman:
Harry Monk:
One day I might employ people. I could now, but I couldn’t pay any more than anyone else does, so I avoid the flak by not doing so.That statement suggests that you too do not understand the principles of a free market economy
No. As I have said before, I am aiming to get a type of work which is in the doldrums now, but which has in the past paid considerably more than general haulage, and would again if it ever re-appeared.
Because it’s not a type of work where one firm or one driver is the same as the next firm or driver, I could get more than general haulage rates for doing it and could pay more than general haulage rates to anyone I employed.